Ex-Alabama QB Forced to Rush Into Ty Simpson’s Defense as Kalen DeBoer Urged to Make Key Changes

The 2025 season opened for Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama with a big heartbreak. They lost 31-17 against Mike Norvell’s Florida State Seminoles. The last time Alabama underwent a double-digit loss and dropped a season opener on the road was in 2000. Back then Crimson Tide squad opened the year with a 35-24 loss to UCLA at the Rose Bowl. As they opened this season, all eyes were on DeBoer’s quarterback, Ty Simpson, who came up with a mixed bag of performances. Yet, the former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy stands as a protective shield for Simpson.

To the former quarterback-turned analyst, when it comes to DeBoer’s quarterback play, no points should be deducted. The redshirt junior, Simpson, completed 23-of-43 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns while adding 17 yards on nine carries. But when it comes to grading Alabama based on their season opener feat against Florida State, DeBoer needs to focus on polishing two other rooms. 

On September 1, McElroy, along with Cole Cubelic, appeared on the Jox 94.5 podcast. That’s when, on air, he received a question to comment on how DeBoer’s present roster is coping with moving away from Jalen Milroe. Without sparing much time to think, the former quarterback shared, “I thought quarterback was good. I think you should feel good about what we saw from Ty Simpson. I’m telling you, I thought he battled. I thought he played like a competitor. Thought he showcased some poise. Had a couple misses. And guess what? First start, you’re going to miss a couple of throws. It happens.”

As a newcomer, Simpson gets a free pass from McElroy. The redshirt junior’s first pass of the day was a bit indicative of what the entire day would be like. Most of Simpson’s best success throughout the day came in targeting Germie Bernard. The wide receiver was targeted 14 times and hauled in eight receptions for 146 yards as the team’s most effective weapon in the season opener. When it comes to Simspson being an effective distributor, DeBoer’s quarterback completed three passes on the opening drive and took off and ran three times on the opening drive. Not to forget the lack of effort from DeBoer’s wide receiver, which, if avoided, would have made things easier for Simpson.

McElroy thus stated, “Little late in a couple spots, little inaccurate in a couple spots. I don’t think the receivers did him any help helped him very much at all. I didn’t think the protection was great, but man, he kept plays alive. Like I thought, he battled. So that was my biggest question in the offseason was how would the quarterback play? And I can now say confidently that I am no longer concerned about the quarterback. I think Ty is your guy, and I was real proud of some of the things that he was able to do.” 

There definitely have been accuracy issues, as Simpson threw 13 inaccurate passes, leading to incompletions, or preventing greater gains as receivers had to stop or slow down while passes arrived. But McElroy comes with a wake-up call for DeBoer for two other positions.

Kalen DeBoer’s two positions need serious repair

McElroy was expecting DeBoer’s defense to be in a better spot. “The growth on defense is concerning. That’s supposed to be as good a secondary as anybody in college football,” shared the former quarterback. They were timid and hesitant. Kane Wommack’s unit gave up 31 points and 230 rushing yards to Florida State in the season loss. While the Seminoles came up with an interesting mix, misdirection with north-south running gave DeBoer’s boys a hard time. They became the nail and not the hammer. After all, the Seminoles having fourth-and-1 on their own 34-yard line in the fourth quarter says it all. Now, what about the next factor of concern for DeBoer? 

“I didn’t think the pass rush was anywhere to be found at times. And I know it’s hard playing against a guy like Thomas Castellanos to just pin your ears back and go because he can break you down so quickly if you overrush the quarterback. But that’s the one area where I was hoping for some progress,” said McElroy. DeBoer’s boys started on a good note with almost 60 yards rushing on the first drive. But things soon fell flat as Alabama rushed for only 29 yards after the first quarter. Now, Josh Pate reminds the Crimson Tide head coach of how he is running on borrowed time.

On his podcast, he shared how his morning was all piled up reading messages on X that dragged Kalen DeBoer through the mud. “I woke up this morning. Against my better judgment, I pulled up my Twitter account, and there it was. ‘FIRE KALEN DEBOER’ right there. First thing I saw, all caps,” said Josh Pate. After all, this time, DeBoer is running out of excuses to lose. Playoffs are the basics that they can bring to the table. Will the Crimson Tide rise stronger from their season-opening stumble, or sink deeper into doubt?